I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else

With memorable roles in such films as “Moonstruck,” “Do the Right Thing” and countless others, Danny Aiello has earned his reputation as one of the most talented and professional actors working today. But, as he tells correspondent Tracy Smith in an intimate profile, off-camera he’s still trying to figure out who the real Danny Aiello […]

In his new memoir, stage and screen actor Danny Aiello reveals that he was so poor growing up in New York that he worked as a numbers runner and burglar, specializing in robbing cigarette machines. He was also a street fighter, and bouncer, the type of late-night guard who didn’t hesitate to slam a rowdy […]

He’s starred in more than 85 films and earned himself an academy award nomination. Now Danny Aiello had released a memoir about his life and career “I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else.” He sat down with Lisa at Sardi’s on 44th Street. Danny talks about: his acting career taking off […]

Danny Aiello’s memories race across the pages of his new book like the cops are in pursuit. The actor did a lot of running from the police growing up in Manhattan’s West Side and the South Bronx, making money shining shoes, running numbers, shooting pool and even robbing safes. “My father was rarely around,” Aiello […]

He dropped out of high school, joined the Army and ended up playing baseball in Germany before he was discharged. After that came a series of blue collar jobs, a marriage and children and then a lucky break that introduced him to acting. At 81, Danny Aiello has put his extraordinary life down on paper […]

Actor Danny Aiello joins Morning Joe to discuss his new memoir “I Only Know Who I am When I am Somebody Else” and his career in film.

Actor Danny Aiello has appeared in more than 85 films, including “Moonstruck” and “Godfather II.” He received an Academy Award nomination for his role as the embattled pizzeria owner Sal in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing.” But Aiello never had any formal acting training. In a new memoir, Aiello says he has always felt […]

If not for modern technology, we might not have Danny Aiello’s new memoir, “I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else.” That’s because Aiello, the Academy Award-nominated stage and screen actor known for his work in films such as “Moonstruck” (1987) and “Do the Right Thing” (1989), dictated his life’s story to […]